IBM unveiled in a series of announcements some news about several IBM Watson IoT plans for the near future. Among the news included the announcement of a new $200 million global headquarters in Munich, Germany for its Watson Internet of Things business.
New IBM Watson IoT Headquarters
SD Times reports that IBM Watson IoT division now has over 6,000 clients and partners around the world. The new IBM Watson IoT global headquarters in Munich, Germany, will attract more partners to co-innovate technologies that will transform our daily lives as well as whole industries. IBM will work at the new headquarters with companies such as BNP Paribas, Avnet, Tech Mahindra and Capgemini on areas such as Watson IoT-based banking solutions, a new joint IoT lab, connected homes and vehicles and digital transformation.
New IBM Watson IoT Partnerships
According to IoT Evolution, IBM has announced a partnership with VISA with the aim to embed Visa token technology in the Watson IoT platform. The technology will transform connected devices in points of sale. IBM is the first company to partner with Visa in order to monetize IoT.
According to Jim McCarthy, EVP, Visa innovation and strategic partnerships, the Internet of Things is driving a more connected world. The new technology is moving data and the point of sale to wherever the consumer wants it to be. IoT is changing the way we live, shop and pay. With IBM's leadership in IoT and security and the power of Watson's cognitive technologies, the high-tech giant is the ideal partner to help Visa deliver secure payments on the scale of the IoT to "virtually anywhere," McCarthy added.
Harriet Green, GM, IBM Watson IoT, said that the Internet of Things is literally changing the world around us. Behind this transformation are technologies like IBM's Watson IoT platform and companies like Visa. The center of successful business consists collaborative workforces, but it might be challenging to bring disparate teams together and making them productive.
IBM Watson IoT has linked up with Bosch in order to address challenges in updating connected devices. The Watson IoT Platform can be used with Bosch IoT Suite services. This way, manufacturers will be able to update IoT devices at scale more efficiently and securely.
IBM has also teamed up with Arrow Power Entrepreneurial Innovation and IoT Growth, as well as Indiegogo. The partnership will pair the Watson IoT platform and cloud services with fundraising from Indiegogo and services from Arrow Electronics. This collaboration will help companies in the IoT startup economy to find strategic funding.
The French National Railway will tap IBM Watson's cloud platform in the connected transportation world, in order to improve safety and efficiency for its 13.5 million daily passengers. The entire rail network of the French national rail line will now be able to connect and gather real-time insights from train transmissions. By linking them to train stations and tracks, the company will be able to manage equipment and improve the security, quality and availability of its trains.
Ricoh and IBM Watson IoT are working to make corporate meetings more efficient. New Watson-powered and cognitive-enabled interactive whiteboards use intelligence and voice technologies in order to actively support people in meetings. The whiteboards are able of taking notes and actions, responding to commands and even translating into other languages.
IBM's The Weather Company subsidiary has created its own ecosystem based on an IoT-powered mobile weather alerting platform. The initiative is aimed at providing easier notification of potential severe weather events and disasters, in order to help underserved populations in emerging markets. The IoT-powered mobile weather alerting platform works even in areas with disrupted cellular networks or limited Internet connection, through peer-to-peer technology and mesh network alerts.
Internet Of Things Expansion Across Various Industries
Tech experts highlight an emerging trend of Internet of Things expansion across various industries. Companies are starting to invest more resources and more time to it, as the Internet of Things starts to gain interest from consumers. This trend shows that we have reached a tipping point with IoT innovation.
IBM Watson IoT division and its partners are building a new global IoT innovation ecosystem. This will enable cognitive and IoT technologies to transform many industries and even our way of living. The new partnerships formed by IBM aim to expand its IoT push.
